Another weekend

Yet another tiring and exhausting week. Went to our new home at about 10:30am. It was really breezy. That was what we’ve been hoping for years. A breezy home. While waiting for the feng shui master to come, we went around tagging the power points. The geomancer came and took measurements and told us that we should not build the mirror feature wall that is directly opposite the study room (which faces the reservoir and water means wealth) as this will ‘reflect’ our wealth out of our home. Wah! Immediately we are richer by $1000+ already since decided not to go ahead with the mirror feature wall. He commented that the home is basically OK, but still needs to check the ba zhi and get back to us during the second consultation. He also told us to imbed some gold coins into the kitchen and living room floor – a symbolism for wealth. Went for a late lunch at 2pm! And then rushed down to The Bencoolen in seach of our gold coins. Plenty – at a competitive 30cents each. The sales ladies even helped us to choose those with meaningful wordings like longevity and wealth and the coins were tied neatly with attractive red strings.

Then rushed down to The Life Shop warehouse sale and managed to pick up the TV console, a bar table for the kitchen and some dining chairs to replace our worn out ones. Really love the bar table. Unique. Forgot to take a photo! All the running, and we were hungry again. We had the famous Bak Kut The and Balestier followed by light hunting. Went to a couple of shops including Lumier, Lights Arcade .. no luck. But got some ideas.

Arrrggg.. tomorrow gotta work!

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.26.06 @ 1:52 pm | 1 Comment

First Boo Boo!

Went back alone at 6pm after work. All the workers had left. The place was wet and dusty.

But the window grilles were taken down. So took some photos of the view outside without any obstruction.

City View from the Master Bedroom

Reservoir View from Living Room (Obstructed by the Condo infront!)

Here is our first Boo Boo!

The common toilet tile are up.

The alignment of mosaic and white tiles are completely out! We overlooked the size when choosing the tiles. Also, the mosaic tiles were not from SBH, rather a tile factory in Defu Lane. When the shower screen is up, the misalignment will not be so obvious – keeping our fingers crossed

This was one of our headaches.

The previous owner had the aluminum sliding door embedded into the marbles thus when we had the tracks removed, we had to hack the marbles too. Fortunately, the strip was quite neatly hacked. Hopefully our contractor can find a close match for the replacement marbles.

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.24.06 @ 4:36 pm | 0 Comments

The Sink

Hubby : Are you sure your are not getting the Acquario? Are you sure you won’t regret? Sure or not? Better think carefully .. later regret.

Wife : Sure lah. No regrets. Final

I had my eyes and heart set on Franke Acquario from day one. The finishing is excellent. However, the single bowl Switzerland stainless steel kitchen sink cost an exorbitant $750 with complete accessories. Thus, yesterday I settled for the Geneva series which was on promotion instead. The double bowl sink cost only $298 complete with 3 piece accessories.

But I can’t help thinking of the Acquario the whole night. So the first thing this morning, I told hubby to change the order for the sink to Acquario since he will be at Jurong area during lunch.

As Ray pointed out, “The husband knew the wife better than herself!”

My Franke Acquario without accessories at $415. But got the Franke soap dispenser. emoticon

POSTED BY Administrator ON @ 3:57 pm | 0 Comments

Wet Works

Hubby went to our new home after the appointment with HDB. Bought soft drink for the workers this time. I had to rush back to work thus was not able to join him. It was drizzling. According to hubby, the scenary from our 20th floor home was breathtaking, the "Misty Misty Effect".

We went to IMM after work to confirm the kitchen hood, hob, sink and storage heater from Asia Excel. We seldome bring the kids along for such errands but we brought the boys this time round as there were some big indoor playgrounds in IMM which they had a great time running around and playing while we shop for our stuff.

Ray, the boss of Asia Exvel, offers the best price by far. I was quoted $1161 (Poo Joo) for the Rinnai RB-3CG but got it for $1116 from Ray. The hob comes with ceramic top thus suppose to be more sturdy than the tempered glass ones. It has the so-called Inner Flame design which suppose to heat up faster, saving more gas. But I forgot to include the flame failure safety device - which will cut of the supply of gas when there is no flame. Got a Franke sink. Not the acquario though. But then again, I might just change my mind. Amasco storage tank 35L - got that for $230, again by far the cheapest quote.

Went to Hoo Kee to order the American Standard ceramic sink for the common toilet. The American Standard Lillo wash basin is 50% cheaper than "made in Spain" one that we initially ordered from Sim Siang Choon. Luckily we manage to cancel our order for that.

Some pictures that hubby took.

Cemented walls - all ready for the tiles.

Part of the kitchen wall tiles up already!

Cost a bomb to have all the walls plastered. Spray painted walls (before)

Plastering the ceiling. Xiong man!

Icing smooth walls.

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.23.06 @ 10:13 am | 2 Comments

Progressing …

Went to our new home yesterday night. All switches have been hacked so there was no light. So, popped by to take a look during lunch. Hubby bought the workers kopi. Must make them happy mah. Communicated to the worker on how we want the tiles to be laid, especially the bathing area for our master toilet. We wanted pebble wash for that area with 6 pieces of wooden looking tiles in the middle. Will take a pic when its done.

I went back after work to meet up with Patrick to discuss how to run the hot/cold water piping since hubby have to work late. Conceal the pipes - scared leakage. Don’t conceal - unsightly. Headache! So have to conceal some parts and reveal some parts. Patrick proposed running the pipe through the storeroom and I agreed. But according to hubby, the proposed method will have a ‘neater’ bathroom but a longer pipe visible from the kitchen. Sigh! So how?

Basically hacking has been completed. The workers were busy applying cement here, there, everywhere. The toilets were laid with the first layer of waterproof membrane. Tiles will be laid tomorrow. Hardly wait to see the completed work this weekend.

Tiles in the middle of our living room

A worker cementing the balcony, which will be converted to our study room.

Messy. Messy, Mess!

Kitchen

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.22.06 @ 1:41 pm | 0 Comments

Sand and Gravels

Renovation starts today.

Hacking.

Went there in the evening. Saw this at the carpark. And knew that it belonged to us.

Living Room. Hacking not completed yet.

We are gonna be needing these

The kitchen

The common toilet

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.20.06 @ 7:01 am | 0 Comments

Almost Done Shopping

After weeks of shopping, we finally bought most of the stuff that we needed. After getting the showers and taps, we went down to Sim Siang Choon to get the kitchen mixer, common toilet and master toilet basins. We’ve been using their paffoni range of sink taps and quite satisfied with the quality. No rust after 6 years. I had my eyes set on the hand painted ceramic basins for my master toilet.

Had a quick dinner and went to Hoo Kee to get the American Standard toilet bowls with matching sea shell seat covers. Their things are much cheaper than those in Sim Siang Choon. The hand painted ceramic basins are only $160 – good $40 cheaper than what I’ve paid. But well, they might not carry the design I want anyway (self – consolation).

So this left us with kitchen sink, hob and hood and storage heater. We settle these this weekend.

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.19.06 @ 6:44 am | 0 Comments

Raindrops falling on my head …

We’ve decided on hansgrohe Raindance. Watch this and you will understand why it was love at first sight for us.

We wanted to check out the pricing from distributors since the pricing at the boutique is rather fixed. Also, not comfortable with the service rendered by the staff there. Very ‘atas’ one. Kept emphasizing the pronunciation of Hansgrohe as ‘her’ not ‘he’.

So we went to Bertz & Co at Park Mall (Basement 1). Lina, the friendly and patient sales assistant spent quite some time with us, recommending models to suit our budget. We were pleasantly surprise when told that she could give up to 30% discount the products.
During one of our weekend shopping trips, we chanced upon this small shop along Geylang that sells hansgrohe too. (HomePlus 797 Geylang Road. Look for the boss, Richard. Tel : 68468749) We called the shop and was quoted at least $20+ cheaper than Bertz. Lina could not match the price, so off we went to Homeplus.

Richard’s service was excellent. And his price was good. For examples, the Focus series was offered at $335 by Bertz was only $299 from Richard. We ended by getting almost all taps and mixers from Richard and burnt a big hole in the pocket!
We got the Focus series for the common bathroom and of course, the raindance for our master toilet. We got the long bar so the shower head can be adjusted to shower us from top to toe – literally!
Hardly wait for these to be installed.

POSTED BY Administrator ON @ 4:43 am | 0 Comments

Shopping Again

It’s another action packed week. The day started with hubby and I leaving the house as early as 8:45am. Went to our new place to think about how we want to run the wires and air con piping. Realised that the kitchen floor tile that we have chosen was way too dark! Went to IMM for sumptuous Hong Kong Food and off we went to SBH Toh Guan again to select lighter floor tiles. End up making changes to the master bedroom toilet too. Saw some tiles that look like wood. We decided to have pebble wash and the ‘wooden’ tiles for the shower area.
Something different. Something special. And I must say, I am thoroughly impressed by the service rendered by the sales assistance. They are very patient and helpful. Gave us lots of recommendation and ideas too.

Went to look at hansgrohe and fell madly in love with the Raindance air showers. Really feels like air-filled raindrops. And they are going at a 30% discount for the month of February. The hansgrohe boutique also has mixers at 50% discount – left overs from condo project. Will grab them tomorrow.

. Really feels like air-filled raindrops. And they are going at a . The also has mixers at 50% discount – left overs from condo project. Will grab them tomorrow.We were hoping that the shops along Jalan Besar will give us a better discount. To our disappointment, Poo Joo don’t carry hansgrohe. Not even Franke sink.

Sigh! I am still deciding between Franke Acquario which cost twice as much as the Teka one. And have not decide if I should get Rinnai Hood and Hob or simply go for the lower end, Cuizino.

or simply go for the lower end,

Everthing want good , want branded, want style – but no $$! Exceeding budget liao.

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.18.06 @ 3:53 am | 0 Comments

Starting Soon.

Met up with our contractor Patrick last night. As usual, he was already there, reading his newspaper and patiently waiting for us when we arrived. He’s really punctual. He even went around to inform all our neighbours that hacking will start on Monday. Good PR skills. We were impressed.

We confirmed renovation details and brought him through the tiles that we wanted for our home.

~~Must remember to take some~~ ~~photographs of~~ our home before reno begins.

So excited.

*****

Photographs of our home before renovation (taken on 18th February 2006)

Living Room

Living Room and Balcony

Kitchen

masterToilet

commonToilet

View of reservoir from balcony

POSTED BY Administrator ON 02.15.06 @ 2:27 am | 1 Comment

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